An Oasis in French, English and Welsh Catholicism.
JANE MOSSENDEW'S blog; dedicated to the support of His Holiness Benedict XVI through prayer-based apostolic action. Traditional ROMAN CATHOLIC and loyally obedient to his authority as Successor of Peter.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

"My beloved, let us offer thanksgiving to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. In the great mercy with which he loved us, he had pity on us, and in 'giving life to Christ, gave life to us too, when we were dead through sin,' so that in him we might be a new creation, a new work of his hands."

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

H/t to Pastor in Valle for this great news. Clearly our dear Holy Father is not going to 'let us go'. Congratulation to Mark Thompson for making this possible. Much better now than during the Papal visit. The naysayers have already accused the BBC of being obsessed with religion! The audience figures will be interesting indeed. Apparently the programme has already been recorded in Rome this week.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The first International Eucharistic Adoration Conference is to take place at Rome in June next year, i.e. Adoratio 2011 (link in sidebar). Our own Father Mark ( I say 'own' because he is honorary spiritual director of this blog) will give the first talk on 'Eucharistic Spirituality' on June 2oth. Several Cardinals, Bishop Schneider (Dominus Est) and Msgr Guido Marini will aslo be speakers. I know you will join me in praying for Father Mark as he prepares for this important assignment, and that you will also pray for Father's well-being, and for his Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle in Tulsa OK

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent everyone! The Introit (one of my favourites of the entire year) is sung three times on this video. There are pictures of lowering clouds waiting to 'drop down dews from heaven', and one of birds sitting on a telegraph wire. When they take off, they call to mind a line of living chant. Rather lovely.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Thanks to Damian Rhodes for giving a link (on his Facebook page) to Father Barron's video commentary on the Holy Father's recently published interview with Peter Seewald. I finished the book earlier in the week. Father Barron has saved me the task of expressing my reaction, and of course does it a great deal more effectively than I ever could have done. His video follows in the next post. Many thanks Father, and thanks again Damian.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

In spite of the fact that I pre-ordered the book at the beginning of November, its arrival here was delayed by bad weather. Last week we had no mail deliveries for three days. Snow and ice meant that roads between here and the sorting office near Angouleme were non-negotiable. A rise in temperature overnight on Friday brought the Seewald book to me on Saturday morning. It also brought more heavy rain, but I have little excuse for spending a great deal of yesterday and today with the book and am two thirds of the way through it.

No time now to comment on the content, except to say that the Holy Father makes it very clear that he is not well-served by Vatican PR, and knows it. Seewald tells him (what many of us felt about the Williamson affair), that the timing of the whole thing indicated a plot to discredit the Holy Father's initiative in lifting the excommunications. By whom, he does not make any suggestion. Typically, Pope Benedict makes no direct accusations, and uses expressions, like 'we did not do this well.' etc. However now we know that he is well aware of these shortcomings, we can only pray that something will be done about them. Unfortunately, as we all know, nothing was done in time for the release of this book. Pope Benedict acknowledges an awareness that the enemy lies in wait, looking for the opportunity to 'pounce on its victim'. It was not clear to me after this first reading whether he is talking about the enemy within, as well as the enemy without.

Jane's Solemn oath to Pope Benedict XVI:

"To the best of my humble knowledge and intent, everything I write on this blog will be in accord with the teaching of Holy Mother Church. Your Holiness, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Communion of Saints, I pledge continual prayer for your personal well-being, health and intentions and I promise you in perpetuity, my filial love, loyalty, obedience and gratitude. Amen. So help me God."

Taken at Saint Romain, France, witnessed by the 'Pro Papa League' and readers of this blog.